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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24971431">You Stop the Noise</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ironlad2045/pseuds/Ironlad2045'>Ironlad2045</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Community (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>After Series Finale, F/M, probably contains spoilers for the entire show</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-04-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 00:35:20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>8,200</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24971431</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ironlad2045/pseuds/Ironlad2045</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>8 years after she left Greendale, Annie Edison finds herself as a witness on a murder trial. And who is defending the murderer? an old friend</p><p>8 years after Greendale was saved, Jeff Winger is doing what he does best, being a lawyer. He gets a new case, doesn't seem impossible, until she sees the first witness of the trial.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Annie Edison/Jeff Winger</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>82</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>So this is an idea I had the other day while re-watching the finale of Community. I hope it doesn't sucks. I am kind of new to this so please leave suggestions and thoughts about my writing and if you want to read more.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>As Annie Edison walked through the court room she felt a lot of eyes on her, she swore to say the truth and nothing but the truth and entered the witness box. Her eyes instantly focused on the man sitted on the left side of the room, he was an average looking man with brown hair and brown eyes. While he didn’t look special It had taken her FBI unit 4 months to locate him; the prime suspect on a series of small bank robberies that had left many people wounded and some killed.That day she was going to testify about the autopsies she performed on the bodies found on the crime scenes. These proved that their killer must have had a physique similar to the man in question. So that was what she did when the prosecutor asked her.</p>
<p>“Four of the victims were strangulated. According to the marks on their necks we believe that the killer used a garrote wire, furthermore he would have had to be at least 6 feet tall because of the angle of the marks and in order to carry the victim over his back he would have considerable strength which would be represented in his or her body with big muscles” she explained to the audience.</p>
<p>“Would you consider Mr. Blum to have these characteristics?” the prosecutor asked</p>
<p>“Objection your honor. He is leading.” Said the defense attorney</p>
<p>Annie looked at the man in chains again. He certainly matched the profile made from the data of the autopsies and various witness reports. The neck marks made great evidence against him, circumstantial evidence but evidence nonetheless.</p>
<p>She went back to a few nights ago when she did the autopsies, they weren’t her first autopsies and wouldn’t be the last, still it was hard to forget about what she saw. Her actual first “autopsy” was in Greendale Community College on an older than herself medical dummy, all part of their prestigious CSI Miami 101 classes. Greendale. She had a lot of sleepless nights studying or just trying to forget what she saw in the day working as a forensic for the FBI, but lately what was keeping her up were those memories. Moments that seemed a life time ago.</p>
<p>How much time has passed? 7 or maybe 8 years?. That seemed right. Of course they all agreed to keep in touch and they managed at first but then they just drifted apart.The last time she texted to Shirley was 6 months ago when she posted a picture of the graduation of one of her boys and Annie wanted to congratulate her. Abed found success in Hollywood working with Troy on a remake of the Inspector something show they loved, it kept them busy, so she hadn’t talked to them since last Christmas. Pierce was dead. The last time she heard from Britta was in the form of a wedding invitation 3 years ago, she married that Subway guy, every member of their little group went to the event. Annie couldn't find the time to go, Britta was probably still mad with her for that. As the blonde put it then: "Come on Annie! Even Jeff came".</p>
<p>Jeff…..Jeff Winger, she usually forgets about him when thinking about her old study group, it was more like she purposely blurred him from as many memories as she could. After she left she never heard anything from him again, not even a text asking if her plane didn't fall from the skies. He dropped her on the airport, hugged her goodbye and that was it.</p>
<p>"You know this would be the series finale moment where the male protagonist runs through the entire airport in order to tell the female protagonist he loves her and asks her to stay with him. Like Ross and Rachel." She remembers Abed said as she looked to the entrance of the airport. "It is very cliché, I hope Jeff knows better than that". Abed finished.<br/>He did know better than that.</p>
<p>That was the last time she saw Jeff Winger. 8 years ago. Annie thought he was probably still teaching Law at Greendale if what he did could be considered teaching. He would still be flirting and hooking up with 20-year olds, one girl after the other. Jeff Winger would never settle down.</p>
<p>While that trip through memory lane was fun she still questioned herself, why was she thinking about this now?, she literally was under oath. She should be focused on the upcoming questions from the defense.</p>
<p>That was it, no more daydreaming. Then she focused her gaze on the defense attorney, it was easy to figure out why all the sudden memories from Greendale resurfaced. Speaking of the devil, there was Jeff Winger, glancing at some papers on the desk before him, just some few steps from her. She felt proud at being mostly right about his current appearance, he had a few more wrinkles on his face and more greys on his hair but besides that he looked the same. Had he realized it was her yet? Sure Annie had shorter hair and looked older but could he really don’t recognize her?.</p>
<p>“Does the defense have any questions for the witness?” the judge pronounced</p>
<p>“Yes, you honor, just give me a second” Jeff said while looking at some papers on his table. “Miss Edis………”</p>
<p>As fast as lighting he lifted his head and saw her. Directly in the eyes. Annie saw the emotions going through his face. He froze, and Jeff Winger never froze.</p>
<p>“Mr. Winger?, we are waiting.” Said the judge after a few seconds that seemed like ages.</p>
<p>He closed his eyes for a second, breathed in and out, only then he went back to his normal self.</p>
<p>“Sorry you honor. The defense wants to ask for an intermission before questioning the witness.”</p>
<p>“I’ll allow it”</p>
<p>After the judge said that she realized what expression her face had, how she wasn't breathing and how fast her heart was beating. What the hell was Jeff doing here? How was he a lawyer again? And most importantly why was he defending a murderer?</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Finally here is the second chapter to this fic. I really did not expect the support the first chapter got so thanks to all fo you that read it and left a comment or kudos. I don't know how many chapters I'll write, I think maybe 3 more. I hope this chapter lives up to the expectations. Enjoy it.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Jeff Winger entered the court room and found his place in the defense table.</p><p>“You ready for this Winger?” said Mark, his partner.</p><p>“Get me some coffee and I will.” Winger said. Mark chuckled.</p><p>The trial began as any other, the judge spoke a little bit then Jeff’s client entered the room escorted by the police. There was some commotion inside the room, as to be expected. The man in chains, David Blum, politely greeted his lawyers.</p><p>After opening statements from both the main prosecutor and Mark for the defense, the first witness was going to testify.</p><p>“Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth so help you god?”<br/>“I swear” said the witness</p><p>The <em>truth</em>, Jeff never liked that oath, mainly because for him the truth had too many definitions, he didn’t believe that a universal truth, as the one the oath referred to, existed. But then again, if it did, it would probably be that he was good lawyer. For years, he might not have had a real law degree, but what other proof to his skill would you need than even when all the evidence said otherwise most of his clients walked away from court as free people with an almost insignificant punishment.</p><p>The law firm he worked his first years was of the big and expensive kind, which meant than only people with resources could afford them. People who knew they did the crime were usually willing to play more so in return Winger defended more guilty than innocent and consequently he ended up . Some nights he might have had problems sleeping but it wasn’t because he felt guilt, at least that was he told himself. Because he was happy, how could he not be? he had a lot of money, and no responsibilities, so every guys dream, right?</p><p>He was a good liar, but like his mother told him the truth always catch up to the lie, so when It did he lost his job at the firm. He wanted his life back, however Jeff Winger wasn’t going to bust his ass 4 years studying just to get a piece of carboard that let him do a job he already was amazing at. Then he remembered that drunk professor Duncan who worked at Greendale Community College, and he owed his lawyer a favor.</p><p>Jeff told himself that it wouldn’t be so bad, the time “studying” would fly past him, and not having a job would mean he could spent more time in the gym, going on dates, it would be a sabbatical. One day he saw a pretty girl with blonde hair, and after some lies, he got himself caught into a study group with 6 other people.</p><p>Those 6 human beings would change his life.</p><p>Abed and Troy taught him so much about friendship, Shirley and Britta taught him about being responsible for his actions and behavior, even Pierce taught him about being a man more than his own father ever would. And the only reason he opened to all these lessons was Annie Edison, the super smart, 18th year old, with a pill addiction, that started to guilt him into doing the right thing and somehow it worked.</p><p>He thought she was attractive for sure, but she was only a friend, she was too young to think of her in other way. That night when he left the dance and he thought she was gone he saw her was walking right to him, they talked for a while but then she kissed him and contradicting everything his brain said he kissed her back. He felt something with her he had never felt with anyone else and that scared the shit out of him. Because of that he defaulted into being an asshole.</p><p>For the first time Jeff Winger wanted to be in a serious relationship and all what came with it, he wanted to hear about her day, about her problems, he wanted to take her to a fancy date on a restaurant or to a museum where she could talk about the artifacts in exhibition for hours and he would be happy to listen. But at the same time, he knew that he didn’t deserved her, he had done too much wrong in his life. He would just ruin their friendship, maybe the entire group and maybe even Annie. While he wanted to be better for her, he wasn’t willing to risk losing their friendship so he buried those feelings as deep he could. Sometimes over the years they would escape their prison for mere moments, but they only truly resurfaced when he learned she was going to leave Greendale.</p><p>Now it seemed like all that happened a life time ago.</p><p>Reflecting about his life wasn’t exactly what Jeff should have been doing, being in the middle of a difficult trial. He considered himself a good lawyer, but it might have not been the best idea to accept the case with so little time to prepare for it.</p><p>This was a surprise witness; she was added to the list yesterday. Jeff only had time to learnt that she was the forensic from the FBI that performed the autopsies, he concluded it would be too hard to bother getting anything good for the defense from her testimony.</p><p>As the prosecution questioned the witness Jeff kept his attention on his notes.</p><p>“Does the defense have any questions for the witness?” the judge said</p><p>“Yes, your honor, just give me a second” Jeff said. He barely paid attention to the witness, but he heard enough to formulate a question that may get some points to the defense.<br/>“Miss Edis………”</p><p>He read the last letters and felt his entire body went cold. It couldn’t be. What were the chances she would be there, in that chair in this trial. He didn’t believe it, he didn’t want to believe it. Maybe he never woke up, that was the most logical explanation for this happening.</p><p>Almost instantly he lifted his sight to the witness box, and there she was: Annie Edison on the flesh. Jeff Winger panicked, for a minute or two, then he was back to normal, or at least pretended to be. The only way he thought he could find some time to breathe was asking for an intermission, luckily the judge allowed it.</p><p>“What happened Winger?” asked Mark.</p><p>“Nothing……I needed a little more time to think what to ask” lied Jeff</p><p>“You look kind of pale, you good?” said Mark showing a little concern.</p><p>“I did tell you I needed some coffee.” Jeff grinned. “I’ll just go splash some water on my face to get sharp. Be right back.”</p><p>Jeff left the court room feeling her eyes burning his back. He walked straight to the nearest men’s bathroom, thankfully it was empty.</p><p>He looked himself in the mirror and tried to calm down. Why did it feel like he had just seen a ghost?. It might have been related to the fact that the last time he saw Annie was almost a decade ago. Which may be related to him not texting her ever again. In his defense he had his reasons.</p><p>Still he felt positive about the situation, Jeff Winger can keep his feelings in check as always. Get through this day. If you can, greet her as old friends do, with the “how long has it been” and “what are the odds from meeting you here” and the false promises to meet one day to catch up. He believed this even though he knew that what they had wasn’t an ordinary friendship. That was why when he saw her he felt overwhelmed instead of feeling joy.</p><p>As Jeff got some paper towels to dry his face he heard the door of the bathroom opening. He turned around on pure reflex.</p><p>Jeff should have remembered that the door of the men’s room wouldn’t stop Annie Edison.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hello there. Here is Chapter 3 of this fic. I am a really slow writer so I take a lot to update. But I will try to finish this before the year ends. Hope you enjoy reading.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Meeting someone you once were close to on a random public place after years of not speaking with one another was always an awkward situation.</p><p>But, seeing Jeff Winger for the first time in years, in the middle of a murder trial, considering what happened between them, felt as much more than awkwardness to Annie. At least she was not overreacting, because Jeff looked as if he had seen a ghost too. Which was weird, because Jeff Winger almost never showed that something was affecting him and he would never accept it if you confronted him about it.</p><p>Then, why was it so weird? friends disconnected all the time, seeing them years alter should bring more joy than awkwardness. Sure, their friendship was on a weird place when she left, with him finally being honest about his feelings for her for the . Even though running away from feelings and shutting them as deep as possible was second nature to him, Jeff told her the truth.</p><p>As she walked away from the stand the prosecutor said something Annie didn’t catch, she was too deep on her thoughts.</p><p>Jeff Winger was lazy, he looked for the easiest way out of his problems 70% of the time. What if he did something to get her out of the trial, like making her testimony invalid because a conflict of interest between them. And that was the best-case scenario, this was Jeff Winger as a lawyer, he might do anything in order to win a case.</p><p>Jeff knew her way too much, he knew all the things about her that would make a jury to not believe anything she said. This trial was way too important, her testimony was a key piece of the prosecution's strategy.  </p><p>The only way to make sure that would not happen was to talk to him. Annie told herself that was the only reason she needed to talk to him.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Jeff met her eyes for the first time in 8 years, those doe eyes he had seen almost every day for more than half a decade. He should hate them, after all the times Annie used them to guilt him into doing the right thing, but he didn’t.</p><p>Winger couldn’t stop asking the universe again, why would he had to see her now? Why couldn’t it be when he was prepared for it? And why would she had to corner him in the bathroom when he was trying to figure out what to do?</p><p>He analyzed her, she definitely looked different, who wouldn’t after this amount of time.</p><p>Young and naïve Annie Edison had grown up since the first time he glanced at her in the Spanish 101 class. She showed maturity with her outfit, a dark grey pantsuit, shoes of the same color and a white shirt, not close to the colorful skirts and cardigans she used to wear on Greendale. Besides looking older the only change he could easily notice was her hair, a lot shorter than the last time he saw her, barely reaching her shoulders. However, he swore her eyes remained exactly the same.</p><p>It was a less than ideal situation for both. Jeff sensed Annie was waiting for him to say something, anything, but he was having trouble building a sentence in his head. Was the expression on her face sadness or disappointment? He concluded it was the latter. </p><p>“Jeff Winger.” Pronounced the brunette, with a serious tone.</p><p>With no better alternative he resorted to the folder in his brain named “Seeing someone you knew on the mall”.</p><p>“Annie! What are the odds? Its so nice to see you. How long has it been?” he said failing to give a true smile.</p><p>She remained in silence. He could not maintain eye contact anymore, switching his gaze to the floor instead.</p><p>“Dammit” he murmured loud enough for her to hear.</p><p>“You forgot I don’t mind walking into the men’s room. Right?. She said.</p><p>Jeff would have smiled at the comment if it weren’t for the serious expression on her face and her crossed arms.</p><p>“Yes, I forget some things sometimes. “he said meeting her eyes once again.</p><p>At that moment Jeff couldn’t believe he never told this girl her eyes were beautiful. He didn’t tell her many things until it was too late.</p><p>The thought of "Maybe, just maybe, its not too late now" was repressed immediately. </p><p>“Like calling a friend.” She murmured with resentment.</p><p>Yeah, that was Annie Edison. She was not going to fake not being angry about something, in this case she was right to be.</p><p>“Annie I can explain…”</p><p>“Why are you here?” she interrupted. “I mean, how are you here?”</p><p>“If you mean how did I go from teacher at Greendale to defense attorney in this case, well…… I wish I could give you an answer that made sense, but its complicated……and we are in the men’s room.” Said Jeff grinning, thinking back to the first time she ambushed him in in the men’s room.</p><p>Annie didn’t had the same reaction and he air between them remained as tense as ever.</p><p>“For what’s is worth I am sorry Annie. Even though is not going to fix anything, I can explain.”</p><p>Jeff had prepared the perfect speech for this moment but it was written a few years back, with the plan being seeing Annie on Britta’s wedding. She didn’t show and Jeff made sure to take advantage of the hired bartenders for the event. </p><p>“I don’t care Jeff. I did not come here to say hello or to ask for explanations.” She took a breath. “I just want to make sure that you are not going to use my history with narcotics as an argument for the jury to not believe what I said on the stand.”</p><p>He was shocked by this statement. Did she really believe that he would use something so personal and serious to her, a dear friend, only to gain the upper hand in a trial. t</p><p>“What the hell Annie? Are you serious? Why would I do that?”</p><p>“We both know you would do anything to win a case.” She got a little closer to him. “I am asking you to not go there, not because of me." she paused for a few seconds. "I did the autopsies, the man you are defending must go to prison.” Annie said showing a pinch of fear.</p><p>Jeff sighted.</p><p>“I would never do that to you Annie. I swear, you can trust me.” He said in a serious voice.</p><p>The woman in front of him didn’t look as convinced as he hoped.</p><p>"I don't even know you anymore, how can I trust you?." she said confidently</p><p>That hurt, but she was right. So Jeff thought of another solution. </p><p>“Well, if you don’t trust me, you can trust attorney client privilege. Which means you can hire me as your lawyer and if I reveal your private information I will be disbarred. And you know I would rather kill myself than go back to Greendale again.” Jeff joked</p><p>Annie barely reacted, with maybe a smile that was stopped before it could form. She stopped to think about the proposal for a couple of minutes.</p><p>“How much would I have to pay you?”. She asked while looking for her wallet showing that she was on board with the idea</p><p>“One buck is alright.” Annie handed him the bill.</p><p>“I am now you lawyer Miss Edisson.” He said playfully</p><p>“Okay, we are done here then” she said extending her hand. “It was nice seeing you Jeff.”</p><p>He shook her hand.</p><p>“I feel the same way Annie.”</p><p>And that was it, as quickly as she entered the bathroom she left.</p><p>Jeff looked at himself at the mirror one last time and made his way back to the court room.</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hello there, I bring you the fourth chapter of this story. I am working a little faster than usual so maybe I can finish this before the end of the year. I hope you like it.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Does the defense have any question for the witness?” the judge asked for the second time of the day.</p>
<p>“Yes, your honor.” Said Jeff Winger confidently as he stood up from the defense table.</p>
<p>Annie Edison was sitting on the witness box, seconds away from being questioned. She was biting her inner lip, while her fingers tapped irregularly into her thighs. Her beaths were deep and slow, trying to calm herself down to not effect.</p>
<p>She obviously felt nervous, even after making sure Jeff would not use her pill addiction to discredit her testimony. She shouldn’t be, after all the lawyer that was going to her ask her the questions was one of her best friends. Perhaps her best friend, which felt weird, because they only became friends after he lied himself into a “spanish study group” shaped corner trying to get into Britta’s pants.</p>
<p>The problem laid on Jeff Winger being an amazing lawyer and him being aware of that. You could tell that when he entered a court he didn’t show any weakness or hesitation. He commanded the room and he had only one goal: winning. Jeff would not go soft on her, especially after Annie ambushed him in the bathroom, whatever he wanted to do with her to gain the upper hand was up in the air.</p>
<p>The witness box made her about his height. She was never able to look into his eyes without him lowering his head and Annie raising hers. It was weird.</p>
<p><em>“Of course Annie, that is the weird part.”</em> She thought.</p>
<p>“Doctor Edison, I was wanted to know, how long have you worked as a forensic for the FBI?” Asked Jeff as he slowly moved closer to her.</p>
<p><em>Doctor Edison,</em> it sounded strange coming from him. She instantly recognized he was using his Winger speech voice, it almost never failed to convince them back on Greendale.</p>
<p>“About 8 years.” Annie stated.</p>
<p>Yes, 8 years sounded right even if it did not feel like it. Time is terrifying, days just go by and by the time you stop to think, it had been almost three thousand days since Jeff dropped her on the airport and never looked back. Why did her never look back?</p>
<p>“That is a lot of time.” She wondered If he had this same existential crisis when he faced the realization of how long ago the Greendale truly was.</p>
<p>“This may be hard, but how many autopsies would you estimate you have performed on those years?” questioned Jeff as he started slowly pacing around the room.</p>
<p>Back on the day, winning an argument against Jeff Winger proved impossible 90% of the times Annie tried, he always knew how to lead his opponent to a trap he set up the moment the argument began. This wasn’t arguing per se, but it had the same core fundamentals. If she figured what he was trying to do she could at least reduce the damage. Sadly, she didn’t have a clue.</p>
<p>Annie tried to remember how many examinations she had performed, but at some point all of them blurred together. She wished that would eventually happen with some of the autopsies that had burned themselves into the walls of her brain.</p>
<p>“Probably hundreds.” She answered with caution.</p>
<p>Jeff gave her the faintest smile before turning to the jury on his right side. There It was, somehow, she fell on his trap.</p>
<p>“For those of you, members of the jury, that do not know, Doctor Edison is one of the most skilled forensics of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.”</p>
<p>A compliment to her work was out of place. Jeff Winger was telling the jury she was an amazing forensic while he should be trying to make them think the opposite.</p>
<p>“But don’t take my word for it, you can ask anyone that has worked with her or just look at her record, in most cases where she performed the examination Doctor Edison was able to find a key piece of evidence on the body that helped solve a case.” he explained with a hint of pride on his voice.</p>
<p>“I think you are exaggerating counselor.” she asked, only showing a little satisfaction for the compliment.</p>
<p>“I do not think I am Doctor.” He paused briefly to figure out what he was going to say next.</p>
<p>“Let’s imagine a very big puzzle, what if it was thrown to the floor?, hundreds of little pieces are suddenly scattered in the room and even if we have the best puzzle maker it can be very hard to find all the pieces and put all of them back together.”</p>
<p>Jeff paused again for dramatic effect. Annie could see that that even with that weak analogy he was able to catch the attention of every person inside the court room.</p>
<p>“That is very similar to what happens on a crime scene, the police try as hard as possible to figure what happened, but it can be impossible sometimes.” He continued.</p>
<p>Jeff turned to his left, back to her.</p>
<p>“Thanks to forensics like yourself, Doctor Edison, we might be able to find one missing piece that will bring us that much closer to justice. I think that is a gift.” He finished with a big smile and proud look.</p>
<p>Annie liked getting appraisal for her work but she didn’t believe she had a gift, unless the gift was being able to almost never sleep to study more forensics or writing dozens of pages about possible explanations for a certain case. And of course, she could stay on the lab for what seemed like days until she found the piece she was missing.</p>
<p>Annie Edison always worked more than the average person, that didn’t change. Her job always came first, it didn’t matter if she may enjoy doing something else, like going to a friend’s wedding.</p>
<p>“Thank you Mister Winger, but where are you going with this?.” Annie asked.</p>
<p>Jeff nodded.</p>
<p>“Your honor permission to address the audience?” Asked Winger</p>
<p>“Objection, your honor!” stated one member of the prosecution</p>
<p>“I’ll allow it.” Said the judge, intrigued by the defense attorney in front of him.</p>
<p>“Okay, we are going to have a little exercise. Would all members of the audience stand up for me please?.” They complied. “If I point to you please sit down.”</p>
<p>Annie analyzed him, he was so focused. She could see the passion on his eyes, he loved his job. Years ago he may have lost his fancy firm and gotten himself disbarred, but he never lost the drive to be a lawyer.</p>
<p>Maybe that was why he never called her, he just focused on himself and his dream. It was still a crappy thing to do but at least it meant Jeff didn’t just forgot about Annie when he stopped seeing her every day.</p>
<p>“Doctor Edison how tall would you say I am?” asked Winger bringing Annie back from her thoughts.</p>
<p>He was looking right into his eyes.</p>
<p>Annie could see only a few members of the audience remained on their feet after Jeff’s selection.</p>
<p>“Excuse me?” said Annie confused.</p>
<p>“How tall do you think I am?” asked Jeff maintaining a neutral expression.</p>
<p>Annie didn’t remember the exact number; she knew him the better part of 6 years but she never measured him. She just knew he was a lot taller than her.</p>
<p>“About 6 feet.” She assumed correctly.</p>
<p>“And how tall are the members of the audience?”</p>
<p>“Objection, that is irrelevant for this case.” Said the prosecution catching up to what the defense attorney was doing</p>
<p>“Explain yourself Mister Winger.” Said the judge.</p>
<p>Jeff slightly smiled. Annie contained her reaction. He had her.</p>
<p>“Doctor Edison told this same court earlier today that the man that committed these crimes would have been, according to her examinations, at least 6 feet tall and have a strong build. Correct?”</p>
<p>Dammit, she thought as she muttered a yes in response. She completely forgot about her earlier testimony. Annie looked at the standing members of the audience, they were about the same height as Jeff. He found her with her gloves down.</p>
<p>“Considering Doctor Edison’s record, I doubt the conclusion she reached was wrong, but it does mean that any of the people that are currently standing up in this court could be the killer, including me.” He finished, dealing the final blow.</p>
<p>Annie finally figured his plan, he was going to build her up to the jury as a great forensic doctor, so he could later trick her into confirming that the evidence given by the autopsies were circumstantial. She didn’t like admitting it, but he was right, all the members of the audience Jeff selected matched the profile and anyone that matched the profile could be the killer. On paper of course, but for the jury the evidence given by the prosecution wasn’t as accurate as it should.</p>
<p>“That would be all you honor.” Finished Jeff as he walked back to his chair. His partner was evidently happy with what just happened.</p>
<p>Annie covered her face with both hands in frustration, Jeff defeated her cleanly. She should have figured out where he was going when he made the audience stand up, it might have given her time to think of a better way to answer his questions.</p>
<p>She was angry, upset and disappointed on herself but the thing that was bothering her the most was that damn question on the back of her head.</p>
<p>“Why did he forget about me?”</p>
<p>Only know, after seeing him again she figured how much that question had been bothering her for the last 8 years.</p>
<p>“He said he can explain.” She thought. “Maybe he is not lying.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I am sorry if you were waiting for an update for a while. I am a very slow writer. But well what can you do. I hope you like this chapter. Comments always work as extra motivation.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p>Before the trial Jeff and his partner Mark figured that the prosecution had rushed into this case due to the pressure coming from the media and the public, they did not have enough time to prepare. Jeff's defense wasn’t ready either, not even close, but they figured that if they were able to make a hole into the prosecution’s case, they would manage for the foreseeable future.</p><p>Jeff did it by questioning the first witness from the prosecution.</p><p>After that the prosecution were forced into a corner, the jury saw that the best evidence they possessed was not good enough. So they asked were forced to ask for an extension, which the judge granted. The trial would continue in one month. More than enough time to be ready.</p><p>Jeff was smiling, he loved winning. But this time it was different, he wasn’t happy with himself for winning at Annie Edison’s expense especially since Jeff knew she hated failing at anything.</p><p>“Great job out there Tango!” Mark said excitedly. “I have to go, don’t forget we are starting prep tomorrow morning, so don’t get black out drunk….again.” he laughed</p><p>Jeff chuckled. “Don’t worry buddy. I am going straight to bed from here.”</p><p>Mark left practically running and Jeff continued to walk to the building’s entrance. He looked back at a certain brunette, discussing with the prosecutors in the corridor that led to the court room. He figured the conversation they had in the bathroom was as good as he was going to get so he continued to make his way to the entrance of the courthouse and leave through the glass door.</p><p>Immediately he saw that the cloudy morning had turned into a rainy afternoon. More like a heavy rain afternoon, the kind of rain that would get him completely soaked by the time he arrived to his car that was parked only a few blocks from there. The faith his partner probably experienced.</p><p>Waiting under the courthouse’s portico for the rain to stop seemed as a better idea. Besides, he liked watching the rain fall, seeing the empty streets and the sound of water drops relaxed him. He told himself that was the only reason for him waiting by the door, he was not hoping to bump into her.  </p><p>Jeff took out his cell phone and began to answer some texts, some emails and see some posts in social media.</p><p>10 minutes passed before he heard a girl mutter behind him.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>As soon as Annie heard the rain fall she reached for her umbrella on her purse. She went through the court house entrance trying to open her umbrella but she couldn’t, the damn thing was jammed for some reason.</p><p>“Agh! Dammit.” She cursed.</p><p>She was tired, it had been a long day at court, she didn’t love to testify but she still powered through only for the prosecutors to yell at her even though she did not do anything wrong. Now she just wanted to go home, however getting drenched by the rain while walking home was the last thing she needed. If only the stupid umbrella would work.</p><p>“Mhmm.”</p><p>She heard someone clearing his throat, she raised her sight from the umbrella to see the man in front of her.</p><p>“Do you need a hand?” asked Jeff Winger trying to not sound too eager to help.</p><p>“Why not? Is not like this day can get any worse.” She said with anger handing Jeff the umbrella.</p><p>“That bad?”</p><p>“Yes, that bad. Prosecutors don’t like witnesses that make them look like idiots.” Continued Annie</p><p>Jeff chuckled.</p><p>“I am sorry.” He said truly</p><p>“You are not” she said looking at his eyes.</p><p>“No, I am serious Annie, I am sorry for using you to win the argument, but and the but is important, If they didn’t want to look like idiots they shouldn’t have gone to trial with so little evidence.” He argued.</p><p>Annie released a sarcastic laugh.</p><p>“They had more, but you tricked the jury into believing they didn’t.”</p><p>“Yes, I am that good.”</p><p>Annie rolled her eyes.</p><p>“I think I figured the problem Annie.” Jeff said after finally opening the umbrella with a cracking sound. “This umbrella is broken.”</p><p>Annie groaned in frustration and he chuckled at her reaction.</p><p>“It wasn’t broken until you touched it.” She took the umbrella from his hands, it would never properly open now, but maybe it would be good enough to cover herself as she ran to her apartment. At least she lived close by.</p><p>”What are you still doing here?” she asked with curiosity.</p><p>“You know, singing in the rain.” He said sarcastically.</p><p>Annie rolled her eyes again adding a quick smile.</p><p>“My car is a few blocks away and I don’t want to get soaked, so I am waiting it out.” He explained with a smile.</p><p>“The weather forecast said the rain could last till tomorrow.” Annie explained.</p><p>Of course, Annie Edison would listen to the weather forecast and bring an umbrella.</p><p>“You are never wrong, so I guess I should make a run of it.”</p><p>She nodded, while preparing for a goodbye.</p><p>“What are you going to do?” Jeff asked with a hint of concern.</p><p>Annie figured she was going to have to make a run for it too, but doing it at the same time Jeff was going to was going to be awkward.</p><p>“I was going to walk home, but with the technical difficulties.” She showed the broken umbrella. “I guess I’ll have to wait it out.” She lied and smiling for a second.</p><p>Annie looked at Jeff, she could tell he was thinking about something. He opened his mouth.</p><p>“There is this bar across the street, is kind of crappy but at least it will be warm in there. We can go if you want, for old times’ sake” He proposed with a friendly smile.</p><p>Annie was shocked by the proposal, trying to hide it from her face. She started to think about it, weighting the positives and negatives of going to a bar with Jeff Winger.</p><p>“Weren’t you going to leave just now?” she tried to change his mind.</p><p>“Yes, but I would feel terrible for the rest of the day if I left you alone on the rain.” He confessed.</p><p>She went mute for another minute that felt like an hour for both of them.</p><p>Annie was sure it would be weird and very awkward. Firs they would catch up, each of them would summarize the last 8 years of their lives. Then the bad stuff would come out, which meant she would have to explain why she missed Britta’s weeding and he would have to explain why he never called her or texted her or even commented on one of her Facebook posts.</p><p>She had pieced a theory together, basically after she left Greendale there was no point for him to keep being her friend. And the confession he gave that night was only a last attempt at getting into her pants. But that theory contradicted in its entirety with the Jeff she knew, the Jeff she saw grow and become a better person. The Jeff that told her he never let her go with his heart.</p><p>She needed to know the truth.</p><p>“Alright.” Annie accepted. “Lead the way.”</p><p>He smiled. She felt okay with her decision, after all how much worse could a conversation with Jeff Winger in a bar be than walking in the freezing rain.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hello there! I think I will be able to update this fanfic more regularly, so look forward for that. I hope you like this chapter, let me know what you think in the comments.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“And what can I get for you?” asked a blonde waitress.</p>
<p>Jeff watched as Annie Edison read for the fifth time the bar’s menu. After spending the day on court both of them were hungry.</p>
<p>“Mmm, I think I’ll go with the cheeseburger.” She decided giving back the menu to the girl.</p>
<p>“Anything to drink?”</p>
<p>“Water is fine.” Jeff said.</p>
<p>“I’ll have an ice tea.”</p>
<p>The waitress gave them a brief smile and walked away from the table they found at the corner of the bar, leaving them with an awkward silence.</p>
<p>Jeff looked at her, they were seated in front of each other, close enough that he could notice a few rain drops on her face. They ran as fast as possible, but they still got soaked, so they had to remove their coats.</p>
<p>“Sooooooo.” Pronounced Jeff trying to break the ice.</p>
<p>“So?” she responded.</p>
<p>“How you been?” he asked laughing a little at the end. “For the last 8 years.”</p>
<p>Annie smiled a little.</p>
<p>“I have been…. busy.”</p>
<p>She didn’t elaborate, Jeff cursed on the inside. There was a pause for a minute.</p>
<p>“I am happy to see that you became a forensic doctor. That was what you wanted, right?” Jeff asked, again trying to initiate a conversation.</p>
<p>“Yeah is great. But you know, work is work.” Annie answered.</p>
<p>“I get it.”</p>
<p>Another silence began. Jeff tried to hide the frustration he was feeling, caused by time itself. A few years ago he could begin a one hour conversation with her about anything, now they had 8 years worth of stories and they just sat in the awkward silence.</p>
<p>“How did you become a lawyer again?” she asked.</p>
<p>“Well, that is a long story. But basically I started working with Mark and now I’m here.” He left a very big chunk of the story out of that explanation.</p>
<p>She nodded in understanding.</p>
<p>Silence started again between the two past friends.</p>
<p>The bar was quiet besides a soccer game playing in a TV and a handful of customers talking among themselves and the bartender. It was a small place, but big enough to have various booths, tables and even a pool table in the right corner.</p>
<p>Jeff always compared it with the bar the whole group went to on Troy’s 21<sup>st</sup> birthday. He remembers drinking with Britta and kissing her and then having a real conversation with Troy.</p>
<p>He doesn’t remember talking with Annie, he remembers she was sad about something. But he did not ask her what was bothering her. He remembers avoiding her. Why was he?</p>
<p>The most probable answer was, Jeff wanted to avoid the tiniest possibility that he would have to have a serious conversation with Annie. Troy’s 21<sup>st</sup> birthday was not long after the whole Britta-Annie fiasco in the dance and it was soon after the conspiracy-theory class standoff with the fake guns and the fake professor. That whole day was crazy.</p>
<p>She said it was acting. But he still questioned if she actually meant what she said that day. Did she wait for him the whole summer? Was she seriously hurt by how he acted?</p>
<p>He was a jerk then and maybe he still was, but age came with some kind of wisdom. Now he knew he should not ignore those questions. Jeff decided it would be better to be direct.</p>
<p>“This is awkward, huh?” he finally said what both were thinking.</p>
<p>“Yes!.” she agreed with frustration.</p>
<p>“But you know what is more awkward? Ambushing a guy you haven’t seen in 8 years in a bathroom.” He joked.</p>
<p>Annie gasped because the accusation. She was about to retaliate when their food arrived.</p>
<p>“You are lucky I’m hungry.” She said before taking a bite of the burger.</p>
<p>Jeff did the same with his turkey sandwich.</p>
<p>“Be honest, what did you think when you first saw me?” she asked.</p>
<p>“Well, I was surprised for sure.”</p>
<p>“I figured, since you had to run away” She mocked</p>
<p>“I didn’t run away. It was more like a tactical retreat.” He</p>
<p>“Yeah right” she smiled.</p>
<p>“So you wouldn’t have run away if you weren’t locked inside the witness box?”</p>
<p>Annie hesitated.</p>
<p>“AHA! I win.”</p>
<p>She rolled her eyes.</p>
<p>“You are a jerk. Using your mind games on me!” she pointed at him, “You made me look so stupid!” she declared with anger but still joking.</p>
<p>“I already apologized for that. So you cannot bring that up.”</p>
<p>Annie rolled her eyes again. They continued eating their lunch.</p>
<p>“Are you going to tell me about working for the FBI or britta this conversation.”</p>
<p>Both laughed.</p>
<p>“Is not like what you see in the movies…..” Annie started.</p>
<p>This feels right, thought Jeff Winger while listening to her friend.</p>
<hr/>
<p>The conversation flowed. Soon they finished their food. The rain outside continued to fall, it seemed stronger than before. Because of it, the bar continued to be almost empty. They had been talking for a little over an hour. Jeff thought It was going well.</p>
<p>“I couldn’t even do the frog dissection in High School, I don’t understand how you are able to do autopsies”.</p>
<p>“You get used to it.” Annie said. “And besides is less gross than what lawyers like you do.”</p>
<p>Jeff laughed.</p>
<p>“I can neither confirm nor deny.” Said as he took a sip from one of the beers they had ordered a few minutes ago.</p>
<p>“So, do you want to elaborate on how you are a lawyer again?”</p>
<p>“Well, you know that teaching at Greendale was always my passion” he said sarcastically. “After you and Abed left, everything was more or less normal, you know I was “teaching” ,Britta was “studying” to become a psychiatrist and the Dean, as we would say, was “deaning” the school”. He said using air quotes.</p>
<p>“But I wasn’t contempt there anymore.” He made  a brief pause. “I figured I should do what I was always passionate about, which was being on court. Then one thing went to another and eventually Mark contacted me and I started working with him again.”</p>
<p>“So, after more or less 6 years in Greendale you finally got what you wanted since the first day you enrolled, you became a scumbag lawyer for rich people in a big firm once again.” She teased.</p>
<p>“Come on, you know I wanted more than that. Sure I wanted my old life back in the beginning but after a while I got over it.”</p>
<p>“Sure you did.” she joked nodding</p>
<p>“I don’t know if you remember some ads that aired a few years ago, that may or may not have contained me dressed in thighs fighting a giant robot, but what I said in those ads is still true today Annie. I became a defense attorney because I want to help people that are getting screwed by the system.”</p>
<p>Annie laughed at the memory of those ads. She felt Jeff was being honest, but she didn’t buy it.</p>
<p>“So you think that the client you are defending right now is getting screwed by the system?” she asked.</p>
<p>“I don’t think I should talk about the case with anyone that is not my client or my partner.” He said with a cheeky smile.</p>
<p>“Really?” she said with a playful voice.</p>
<p>“Yeah but I will make an exception for you since there is no way that the prosecution wants you to testify again.”</p>
<p>She made an angry face at the comment.</p>
<p>“The way I see it as a lawyer I have to help people as much as I can” he explained.</p>
<p>“Get them out of punishment.”</p>
<p>“We know that the system is not perfect, sometimes people that don’t deserve to, get punished.”</p>
<p>“Yeah, but not in this case. Your client killed innocent people.”</p>
<p>“Allegedly.”</p>
<p>Annie rolled her eyes.</p>
<p>“Lets say he is guilty; he would deserve the lethal injection. You don’t think that’s fair?” asked the brunette.</p>
<p>“Honestly? No.”</p>
<p>“Why?”</p>
<p>“Do you remember our debate in Greendale?”</p>
<p>Annie smiled as she remembered that only debates in Greendale could include Jeff singing as an argument. She tried to not blush as the thought of how they won that trophy.             </p>
<p>“About whether man is good or evil by nature?”</p>
<p>“Yeah, we won that, so we know that man is evil. If you want to get all philosophical about it a man shouldn’t be punished for their evil actions because, essentially, we don’t know any better.” Jeff argued.</p>
<p>“But he knew better.” She responded.</p>
<p>Jeff thought for a second.</p>
<p>“All of us know better but we still do things that we shouldn’t do. I know that I shouldn’t drink beer because is unhealthy, I know I should donate more money to charity, and I know that I should not get into an ethical discussion with Annie Edison. But here we are.”</p>
<p>Annie looked at him, that was the Jeff Winger she remembered.</p>
<p>“Sure you sound convincing, but there is no way you can put killing someone with drinking beer in the same level of wrong.”</p>
<p>“Is that a challenge?” Annie had woken up Jeff Winger competitiveness.</p>
<p>“Yes. How about we have a new debate, should man be punished for his evil deeds or should scumbag lawyers be allowed to set them free?.” she teased him again.</p>
<p>“Are you serious?” asked the lawyer.</p>
<p>“Of course, I am. I’ll go get us another round; you have that time as prep time.” Said Annie as she stood up and took the empty beer bottles.</p>
<p>“You are on.” Said Jeff.</p>
<p>He glanced at her silhouette as she walked to the bar. He remembered the first study session only the two of them had so many years ago. He always knew that he shouldn’t feel what he felt for her, she was too young for him, they were too different, they would only hurt each other.</p>
<p>Jeff knew better, so he buried his feelings and did nothing for as long as he could.</p>
<p>By admitting that he was also contradicting himself, after all “man shouldn’t be punished for their evil actions because essentially, we don’t know any better.”</p>
<p>And Jeff Winger hated being wrong.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thank you so much for reading. Kudos are appreciated. I will be reading your thoughts in the comments. Have a nice day.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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